About Nairn Sunsets

AKA The Internationalist (Track; 'The Summer Rose') and Oxbow Loch (Track; "Walking on the Carse).

The Summer Rose song popped into my head while wandering around Fishertown and remembering those summer romances, and the line "you took my coat that day, Fishertown in the rain" about a specific memory. We had the whole summer! xx

Walking on the Carse was a melody I hummed into my iPhone walking on the Carse, thinking about my Uncle John Nicol, who had just passed. An Aberdeenshire Farmer, family man, Gentleman and inspiration to me. Much missed.

I first started writing music/words in my bedroom in Nairn as a teenager, some of those songs have filtered into various bands and albums over the years, some (recent single 'Earth' by the OxbowLake Band) taking nearly 40 years to materialise! 

Nairn is still my 'go to' place to sit in those same rooms, with my acoustic guitar and write tunes.

I set up Village Sunsets Records, as a roots independent label for my associated bands, but also to support others and regional compilations (I previously created a Buchan Sunsets comp of artists around my home, in Aberdeenshire)

I'm also the Sexy front man with The Oxbow Lake Band and sing/guitar/write with the amazing The Fonsecas (plus a few other projects).

As a big radio fan, I have been blessed to hear my tunes played on my favourite radio shows (Paul jones BBC Radio 2, Craig Charles Funk & Soul BBC 6 music, Radio Scotland, Main European radio etc.) as well as being favourably reviewed by Music mags, such as Shindig.

As a live outfit, The Oxbow Lake Band are festival favourites, best described as a 7 piece bombardment of good time funkiness. Heavy in horns and Hammond organ! and play all over the country, limited by 'how far can we be bothered to drive'!

But my main focus is as a Father, Human, Business person and Neep grower..... I still love being in Nairn (where I was raised with the required level of Nairnite Irreverence).

p.s. I must remember to open my eyes in photos.......

AKA Superpyro. 

63 Society Street - this was the first house my family moved into back in 1967/68. Prior to this we had been living at my Grannies in Queenspark. We stayed in Fishertown for approx 3 years and moved out in the summer of 1970 when mum and dad got the house in Broadhill. 
When I starting on this project I didn’t know what I was going to write about. This tune grew slowly and when listening to it I immediately knew what it was about, it was about loss, and faded memories and never being able to go back but also about that house we lived in so long ago.

Jubilee To The Sea (An Impression) - This is an imagined walk along the river from.. you guessed it, the jubilee bridge to the sea. Along the way you’ll pass under the railway bridge and hear the churches, so many churches... and along the Cyber and past the huge chestnut tree, then cross the main road and along by the maggot to the harbour and beyond.

MJM are Matthew J Donnachie  Fretless bass, Chapman stick and Vocals & John O’Brien Keyboards ,Guitar and programming.

Matthew is originally from Dunfermline in Fife and John from Croy, North Lanarkshire.

Matthew now lives in Tornagrain and John in Inverness. John  has his own recording studio and the pair co-produce their own music under MJMusic.

Amongst their many influences they have mutual love of David Bowie, David Sylvian, Roxy Music.

Their debut album due for release at the end of 2022.

The track Dream (Before You Came ) submitted for the Nairn Sunsets album was a track written by Matthew on the Chapman Stick during lockdown.

The song is a duet and Matthew is joined on vocals by his daughter Olivia Donnachie, who is currently studying performing arts at the world famous Brit School in London.

Dream also features the Tarland Wizard Dr Paul Anderson MBE

Track; Unpredictable

As sons of Scooby Sutherland, George and John have been part of the Nairn music scene for generations. Harmonising Beatles songs in Rose Street from a very young age, as boys getting taught guitar by Johnny Douglas in Acre street and Tradespark – they went onto create riots in a thrash-metal band as Achareidh teenagers. Both are still continuing to rock into their 50’s.

The brothers have been in successful indie bands that have had national acclaim, just to watch the wheels fall off on the verge of going professional. Undeterred, music still plays a huge part of their lives – George has his own recording studio on the outskirts of Nairn and John lives in Aotearoa, New Zealand and is playing in an ‘original’ band over there.

Global collaborations are relatively easy now and ‘Unpredictable’ was one of those. George drafted the music and emailed a rough track to John. Its complex arrangements reminded John of Scott Walkers 1960s ballads and so he went for something of that genre. The words and melody (with tricky sub-melodies) were written in about 15 minutes – he sang them and pinged them back to Scotland. George did all the hard work finished the tune at his end. 

AKA MoRk.

Track; Melt Away

I'm MoRk and I make music.

Born and raised in Nairn and spent most of my days here.

Most commonly found these days either on stage in the Bandstand, or staring whimsically at the sea or wandering through the woods.

I've been making music all my life, and writing songs since I became a teenager, putting on gigs in the old community centre as soon as my band had enough songs.

Spent the rest of my teenage years making music with bands in and around Nairn.

A little over a decade ago I started getting out as a solo artist, hosting jam sessions and open mics in venues all over the town, as well as playing in other venues with various acts, and getting to play at some of the most excellent festivals in the local area. I live to play live, but swear one of these days I will record some of my songs.
I wrote this song sat at one of my favourite spots to forget the world down the sea front. It was nice to write something that wasn't angry at something for a change

AKA JSN DRMR is a musician and artist who has been involved in the local music scene for the last 40+ years. Having started in a punk band in the early eighties then moving on and playing in various bands in the Nairn and Inverness area. In 1997 Jason started his own media brand No Label which initially had it's own tshirt range. It developed into a live music entity and gave Jason the platform to write original music, drawing heavily on his personal experiences growing up in Nairn. In 2003, he wrote a song about Nairn's seminal Record Shop Deletion Records, and as a result and with the co-operation of original owner, produced over 100 printed tshirts which went all around the world. From 2002 to 2019, Jason was very active playing regular gigs with various bands, the highlight of which was a regular Games Day slot in some of Nairn's busy bars. In 2020, Jason was involved in the design and artwork for MJM, creating their brand and various promotional artwork. The exposure from working with MJM has led to further design and artwork for other artists, including promotional material and tshirt printing.
2022 has been a very busy year which has seen Jason create original music for a promotional video and also produce music for himself for future release. The Nairn Sunsets album project has been a joy to work on, not only showcasing 2 orginal songs, but also the opportunity to be involed in the design and production of the artwork. The idea was to capture Nairn from a different angle and create a cover that people can talk about hopefully stirring memories and experiences.
The track Crea Diem was inspired by creativity and the positive energy of being around like minded people. The music starts in an upbeat fashion and builds to create an uplifting feel.
Escape is inspired by Nairn. A place at some point we have left to seek other experiences, but also a place we return to. It is also a place to escape to with it's wonderful outdoors and history, truly an inspirational setting for the creative.
Tracks Escape and Crea Diem

With over 35 years playing in bands, Pete is no stranger to the music scene. From his early days in a school band with classmates his love of music hasn't left him.

Being born and brought up in Nairn means Pete has lots of great memories, mostly related to music and has in the past, had the pleasure of playing or collaborating with a number of the artists on this album. And sees this album as a start to more music being discovered and created in Nairn.

Pete has played in a number of local bands since in the 80s & 90s (White Noise, Cyan, Synopsis, Raining Stairs, to name a few) and most recently with No Label. Pete has played punk, pop, indie, rock, blues and soul in bands, and not content with just playing at home, he continues to play in The Exiles in Qatar and also runs 2 music Festivals, Rockaway Beach & RPM Festival.

track; Blue Light

Track; Silver Darlings

During the making of the Nairn mosaic , several songs evolved that are yet to be released.

The silver darlings reflects on history of the local fishing industry, through to tourism and my childhood memories. Hours spent at the beach many galas we dressed up for! 

The words "time marches on' can be seen in the mosaic as can the silver darlings , along with various other references  in this song.

My friend and artist  Sue Cameron  who also worked on said mosaic , joins me in this song on cello and whistles .. many thanks to you, and also to Ricky Cameron for recording.

AKA D.W.R.

Track; Life's @ Beach

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According to my Bandcamp page, "D.W.R. is the handiwork of David William Rosie - a middle-aged punk from the north of Scotland (the sunny bit) who's wasted most of his life fannying around ... until now".
In truth, I'm being a wee bit harsh on myself in that description. It IS true, however, that I should be  concentrating a tad harder on my own songwriting, and getting this whole thing off the ground. It's been an incredibly slow burner. I released a collection of very rough home demos 2 years ago as an EP, and threw a few other demos onto Bandcamp, did a few gigs, including the "Woodzstock" festival in 2021, and ... resumed the fannying around. I promise to get the finger out and get things recorded properly ASAP. I've essentially got my first 3 or 4 albums written.
Growing up in Nairn was great!
Life's @ Beach was written when Andy first contacted me about this project. I don't think I've ever written anything "to order" before, but L@B was pieced together very quickly, and includes references to a few summery, beach-related times, as well as a couple of car incidents! It's the song The Beach Boys would have written if they'd ever been passengers in a Vauxhall Viva which was driven over the Jubilee Bridge.
I recorded this demo version of the song at home, and didn't realise that the missus and the bairn had come home as I was recording the vocal. The wee one came upstairs mocking my singing and I recorded her doing so. It's her voice at the start of the song. Clearly I had anticipated recording a proper version of the track for this album which didn't include her, but that hasn't happened yet. 

Secret Extra track (in download only) entitled "Stealt Wood" 

I grew up in Aberdeen and spent most summers in Collieston village learning to row a boat and helping local fisherman ..baiting and emptying creels etc..

Founder/singer/song writer with We Free Kings in 1980’s toured extensively around UK and Ireland and even busked across Europe one summer with WFk Inspired by punk rock and the Scottish folk of Ossian…

Moved to Ireland in 1993 and delved deep into home recording..from primitive cassette 4 track portastudios. to Atari/Cubase combo… had cd and vinyl releases in Ireland and Belgium focussing on drum n bass and dubby hip hop and ambient music. I made a series of ambient tunes inspired by the coastline and tales of the north east of Scotland whilst living in Brussels.

Now back in Scotland,based in Edinburgh. Currently working on reggae and dub protest songs as Fat Joe & The Observers.. Fat Joe was my nickname at school given my poaching and goal scoring abilities on the football field…given Joe Harper was Aberdeen’s centre forward at the time! Always loved Reggae and dub since punk days via The Clash and their Junior Murvin cover version onwards..

“Stealt-Wood” a dub tune inspired by the Nairn fisherman’s folk lore “In the 19th C., fishermen in Nairn believed that wood was either “he” or “she”. Boats made with “she-wood” sailed faster at night than during the day. Boats made with wood that had been stolen, “stealt-wood” also went faster at night.”